The
death of People’s Patriotic Front [PPF] chief Ghulam Nabi Mir alias Azad
Nabi is considered as a big jolt to counter-insurgents in kashmir. Azad,
who at first was a pioneer of anti-india militant activities, was gunned
down by Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants on 16 June at his Shuhlipora
Achabal residence about 40Km from Srinagar. A constable driver in the 7th
Btn of state armed police, Azad deserted the force in 1989 and crossed to
the other side of the line of control (LoC) for arms training. On his
return, he joined the front-ranking militant organization HM and rose to
the position of district commander.

Later when the then HM chief commander Master Ahsan Dar left the outfit to
form Muslim Mujahideen, Azad joined the new outfit. On Ahsan’s arrest,
Azad became chief of the Muslim Mujahideen and established ties with the
Army. Muslim Mujahideen, headed by Azad Nabi, was the first and only
outfit which on the whole surrendered to the army. After joining hands
with the Army, Azad and his surrendered outfit actively worked against
active militants. A large number of militants, their commanders and
civilians were killed by Azad during his counter-insurgency activities.
People of Pattan remember Azad as a disgusting figure as he started his
anti-militancy activities from this area. Some residents of Pattan said
that Azad had, during his activities in the area, gunned down more than
200 people, mostly militants, their relatives and sympathisers and
activists of Jamaat-e Islami Kashmir. However, during his
counter-insurgency activities in Islamabad (Anantnag) region, Azad is
believed to have confined himself to extortion and not many deaths
occurred at his hands there, it is said.

Azad had escaped a number of earlier bids on his life. HM, while claiming
responsibility for killing Azad, asked all those who had surrendred to
disassociate from ‘anti-movement’ activities. After forming the PPF in
1995, Azad Nabi became its patron and contested 1996 assembly elections
and the 1998 Lok Sabha election, though unsuccessfully. After the
formation of the NC government in the state, Azad supported it for
sometime. However, of late reportedly his ties with the state government
as well as army were not quite cordial.q